Chicken Lettuce Wraps

 

I just want to pause a minute to let you know how over-the-top amazing you are.

The other day, a few of you spotted one of my photos on someone else's site, without mention of where they found those tasty pictures.  And not only did you take the time to find my recipe here and then alert me to the use of my photo, but - and here's what warms my sugary heart - you noticed.  You recognized my photo.  You remembered.

Tropical Kale Salad with Creamy Pineapple Coconut Dressing

Did you know that massaging raw kale gives it a slightly wilted texture, so that it's softer?  Neither did I!  I bumped into a whole new world of kale salads and learned that the die hards rub some dressing into the kale and let it marinate before eating.  Crazy town!

But let's get back to this salad.  I've started calling it "scurvy salad" because of its healthy dose of Vitamin C while we're still seeing chilly winter weather outside.  It's basically an island vacation on a plate.  Coconut, lime, pineapple, mangoes, banana.... I'm telling you - it's the cheapest tropical vacation you'll ever take.

And we're bringing back those Chia Seeds again.  This time, not only do they add some fiber and omegas to your dressing, they also serve as a thickener.  This recipe takes advantage of how Chia Seeds absorb liquid and create a gel, and use that to thicken the dressing naturally.  I love it!

And a secret?  That dressing is pretty delicious when drizzled over coconut milk ice cream.  I may or may not be stuffing my face with it as I write...

I Feel A Tan Coming On,


p.s.  Happy Leap Year!

         

Tropical Kale Salad with Creamy Pineapple Coconut Dressing
adapted from Oh She Glows

For the dressing:
1 c. chopped pineapple *
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
3/4 c. coconut milk
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
pinch kosher salt
1 Tbsp. honey (if using unsweetened coconut milk)

For the salad:
3 c. packed kale, stems removed and roughly torn
2 c. butter or romaine lettuce
1/2 c. chopped pineapple *
1 c. chopped mango *
1/2 large banana, sliced
1 Tbsp. shredded dried coconut
1/4 c. roughly chopped macadamia nuts or pecans

In a blender, blend all dressing ingredients until smooth.

Then, prepare the kale by adding about 1/2 of the dressing to the kale and massage it in with your fingers. While the kale marinates, chop the fruit.  Toss everything together and top with coconut and nuts and additional dressing as desired.

* Note: I used frozen and thawed chopped pineapple and mango to save on costs, and this recipe turned out great.

         

Dressing Ingredient Lineup:

Salad Ingredient Lineup:

Salmon Patties with Lemon Sauce

I used to eat a whole lot of salmon when I lived in Oregon and then in San Diego.  But now that we're in Atlanta, we rarely eat it.  Major sad face :(  Atlantic salmon just doesn't taste as good as that from the Pacific Ocean, and it's nearly always frozen by the time it hits our grocery stores.  So, when I bumped into this recipe - using canned salmon - my salmon cravings kicked back into high gear.

This combo of the salmon patties with a hollandaise-like lemon sauce is yum!  I'll admit that it's still not as amazingly delicious as a fresh salmon patty from a restaurant sitting right on the Pacific Ocean, but it will definitely tide me over until my next trip home to Oregon :)

Enjoy!




Oregon Salmon Patties
adapted from Allrecipes
12 - 14 oz. canned salmon, boneless and skinless
1/2 c. cracker crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp. celery salt

1 Tbsp. butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
salt & pepper, to taste

Drain the salmon, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Flake the salmon in a large bowl and add the reserved salmon liquid, cracker crumbs, eggs, parsley, mustard, dill, and celery salt.

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot, and cook until tender.  Pour the shallot and butter into the mixing bowl with the salmon and stir until combined.  Shape into six patties, using a 1/4 cup measure.  Placed on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for an hour.  Pan fry in a large skillet over medium heat, or bake in a 375 degree oven for 8 minutes each side.  Makes 6-8 patties.

Lemon Sauce
adapted Allrecipes
2 Tbsp. butter
1 clove garlic
4 tsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. milk (I used almond milk)
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. dried dill

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in milk and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and dill.  Makes about 1 cup, enough for the salmon patties plus extra to top a veggie side.

Salmon Patties Ingredient Lineup:

Measure out by 1/4 cups and shape into patties and place on a greased baking sheet.

Lemon Sauce Ingredient Lineup:

I baked these in the oven (as opposed to pan frying) and they turned out perfectly golden!

      

Saucy Mama Chicken Salad Crescents

Good Morning!

You may remember last year, that I entered a recipe contest for Saucy Mama.  They invited me to participate again this year, so I gladly joined in!  This time around, the challenge was to come up with a recipe using only five ingredients.  Five?!  Yowza.  I don't consider myself an elaborate or fancy cook, but when I started adding up items, I hit five in a huge, screeching hurry.

This recipe that I came up with is almost embarrassingly easy.  It took me less than 15 minutes to put together and pop into the oven!  It would be a fantastic item at a brunch (served with champagne and fresh fruit, yummmm), and it's also a great option if you need a quick snack or appetizer for guests.  You could use just about any fancy mustard, but the Saucy Mama one I used gives it a great punch of flavor.

Enjoy!






Saucy Mama Chicken Salad Crescents
2, 12 oz. tubes of "bigger" size crescent rolls
12.5 oz. can of chicken, drained *
1/3 c. celery, finely chopped (about 1 stalk)
1/3 c. light mayo
2 Tbsp. Saucy Mama Tarragon Lemon mustard
black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray, and set it aside.

Mix chicken, celery, mayo, mustard, and pepper in a medium sized bowl until thoroughly combined.  Arrange individual crescent roll sections on your workspace.  Using a medium cookie scoop (or about 2 Tbsp.), place chicken mixture at the wide end of each roll.  Take the wide edge and tuck it over each chicken salad mound and press lightly to seal the edges.  Continue rolling the crescent dough, slightly twisting the ends as you roll, to seal the edges.  Place on greased baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.  Makes approximately 16 crescent rolls.


* Note: You can opt to cook your own chicken breast instead of purchasing canned chicken.  Just boil one large chicken breast in water for approximately 10 minutes, or until completely cooked through.  Allow to cool and shred with two forks.

Ingredient Lineup:

Mix chicken salad ingredients in a medium bowl until combined.

Place a small scoop of chicken salad at the

wide end of each crescent roll.

Roll the wide edge over and lightly press to

seal the dough edges together.

Continue rolling, slightly twisting the ends as you roll

to pinch the edges.  Place on your prepared baking sheet.

Voila!

Thai Basil Meatballs

These puppies are freaking amazing.  You'll have to take my word for it and make them.  Make them tonight.  And then make them tomorrow night too, because you'll be sad that you didn't save any leftovers.  Plus, you've got that chili paste and fish sauce sitting in your fridge, and you were wondering what you'd do with them, right?  Make Thai meatballs!

Normally, I don't cook with ground turkey, because I prefer super lean ground beef so that I can get more iron in my diet.  But beef in these meatballs would just be too much.  It would overpower the basil and the chili paste and the fish sauce, and then these meatballs just wouldn't be so heavenly.

Enjoy!




Thai Basil Meatballs
adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner

Meatballs:

1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp. finely chopped green onions

2 Tbsp. finely chopped basil (or equal amount of basil paste)

2 tsp. hot chili sauce

2 tsp. minced fresh ginger (or 1 tsp. chopped crystallized ginger)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp. fish sauce

1 lb ground turkey

2 egg whites

2 tsp. oil, for brushing

Sauce:

1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce  

2 tsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp. chopped crystallized ginger)

1 Tbsp. chopped green onions

2 tsp. hot chili sauce

2 tsp. cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, except for the oil, with your hands. Roll the mixture into balls roughly 1” in diameter. Place them on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray, brush the tops with the oil, and bake them for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.


While the meatballs are cooking, whisk all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 2-3 minutes, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set aside.  Note:  If your sauce becomes too thick, you can thin it with low-sodium chicken broth.

Serve the meatballs with sauce and additional chopped basil and green onion, if desired.  Makes approx 20 meatballs.

Meatballs - Ingredient Lineup:

Sauce - Ingredient Lineup:

Stir and squish the meat mixture until combined.

Then scoop it out and roll into balls in your hands.

Give the meatballs a light brush of oil before baking.

The sauce will be lumpy looking and will thicken upon cooling.

 Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.

Stuffed Strawberries

Hi there!  This delicious little recipe is super fast to whip up and and only requires a few ingredients.  I thought that it'd be a cute little treat for Valentine's Day.  Or for tomorrow, even, or for breakfast, or for an after school snack, or for no reason at all :)  The stuffed strawberries taste fancier than they are, and when you drizzle them with melted Dove chocolate, they're beyond yummy.

And, wanna know a secret?  You can use lowfat or fat free cream cheese in them, so that your only real guilt comes from the powdered sugar.  And maybe that Dove chocolate.

Enjoy!




Stuffed Strawberries
adapted from Allrecipes

20 strawberries, rinsed and stems sliced off
8oz. cream cheese, softened *
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste **

Make a cut 3/4 of the way down of each berry, from the tip toward the stem end.  Then make a second, perpendicular cut so that each berry has an X cut on its tip.

Beat together remaining ingredients until smooth.  Fill a piping bag (or quart-sized ziploc with a snipped corner).  Pipe cream cheese mixture into each strawberry, and optionally, drizzle with melted chocolate.  Keep refrigerated.

* I used lowfat cream cheese, and it tasted amazing.  You could also sub in Tofutti to make this vegan.

** or 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 Tbsp. orange liqueur or amaretto or a million other flavorings.

Ingredient Lineup:

(And, a particularly wicked one with Dove

dark chocolate drizzled over the top.)

Pull Apart Garlic Bread

I'm sure you have figured out by now that I'm all about easy whenever possible.  Appetizers are no different.  The one I bring you today...think monkey bread only for garlic bread.  Yumm. 

Go Pack Go!




Ingredients:
1 can of refrigerated biscuits
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon parsley

Directions:
1.  Separate biscuites and then cut each biscuit in half.
2.  Mix garlic, parsley and margarine.
3.  Dip biscuits in mixture and then place into 9 inch pie plate.

4.  Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees